Thursday, March 15, 2012

Firing the First Rocket

“That night, I had some friends over. While we were chatting, we had the TV on and our show was disturbed for a breaking news bulletin. The reporter was indicating that a rocket just shot out of northern Saudi and is heading towards Iran. All of us were quite and all we could think of was that it has finally happened. The rockets were built in Israel, and it seems that the Saudi regime decided that Iran was a bigger threat to its stability and survival than Israel. At the point of firing the rockets, the Islamic world was no longer split between Shia and Sunni, but pro-Saudi and anti-Saudi.

The Rocket was not a surprise to many Shia. For over a year now, there was a continuous attack against their sect in the Saudi owned public media and in governmentally managed mosques without no retaliation nor any clear position from the government. It was all triggered with one official statement published by the Saudi Ministry of Interior (MoI) targeting its local Shia community in doubting their loyalties. In the same statement the MoI referred to a Foreign power (at the time thought to be Iran) seeking to tackle the stability in Saudi Arabia.”

What a future to envision. When imagining the above, some may think to themselves: This seems like a ridiculous thought. But the question here is how far away from the truth is the above story? The Loyalty of Saudi Shia has already been questioned by the government and its affiliates. The official statement of the government had already labeled its Shia public as traitors to their flag and to their land. You will hear the way the governmentally appointed clerics speak about the Shia during their prayers, labeling them as Rafidhies (deniers of the truth), praying that “may God unleash his full punishment against them”. To understand this mentality further and what is being propagated, all you have to do is browse through the social media (e.g. facebook and twitter) and you will witness the heavy attack against the Shia public in the form of blessing the Saudi army placed in Qatif wishing that it wipes those “Iranian intruders” who have invaded the eastern province of Saudi Arabia.

Certain Saudi royals have already been quoted in a statement to the United States saying “Cut of head of snake” in a reference to Iran. The official position of the Wahhabi school (the official Islamic sect of the Saudi state) is that the Shiite’s danger is one that is greater than that of the Jews. As a portrayal of this belief a conference was held on the 16th of February, 2012 entitled “The truth about the Rafidhi Faith and its Danger Against Sunni Societies” in Riyadh detailing the “Shia threat” on the Sunni community. In fact, and surprisingly due to this conviction, many conservative Saudis will apparently support an Israeli strike against the dominant Shia state of Iran. During the past week, according to Peter S. Cohan in his article “What would a Saudi-Supported Israeli Attack on Iran mean for you?”, an anonymous arms dealer has already visited Israel and Saudi to meet officials on both sides to discuss a potential Israeli attack on Iran from within the Saudi borders. If this is true, can we place the assumption that the Saudi regime, through its relaxed monitoring against the attacks aimed at the Shia population, is preparing for the whiplash it may get from the Islamic community under such circumstances? I leave that for you to decide.